España en el Horizonte (Spain on the Horizon)
God blesses us so that we can glorify Him and bless others. As Americans, we often don’t realize how blessed we are. With freedom of religion and separation of church and state, we get to choose—from a plethora of options—which church we attend. I’ve always assumed it’s a liberty every “western” country enjoys. Only countries like Egypt, China, or Syria persecute followers of certain religions, right? The current religious climate in Spain, while not considered persecutory, affords virtually no choice of other religious institutions besides the Roman Catholic Church. Being Spanish and being Catholic are still widely considered synonymous.
God has blessed me with easy access to the Gospel, Christian mentors, and hundreds of Christ-focused communities of which I can choose to be a part. Now it’s my privilege to go and bring these things to Spain as a missionary for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). The Lutheran pastors in Spain now serve more than 80 Lutherans in 18 different cities around the country. In 2017, the congregation in Seville rented and renovated a space to host regular worship. Now that we have a physical church, we’re focusing on increasing and strengthening the members of that church.
In John 4 Jesus meets the woman of Samaria at a well. Because He’s Jesus, He knew exactly where to find her, at what time, and what to say to her. He knew her life, the things she was struggling with, and that she was ready to hear the Gospel. When I first really thought about this, I thought, “I can’t read people’s minds, Jesus! How can I possibly know the perfect way to share the Gospel with them”? I’ve learned that instead of reading people’s minds, I can ask questions, listen, and trust the Holy Spirit to do the heavy lifting.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this story, as well as the parable of the sower, because I’ll be using my marketing background to help make intelligent and efficient outreach decisions for my church in Spain. I’ll oversee things like marketing surveys, website updates, management of social media pages, and advertising decisions. To me, outreach is about connecting with people, wherever they are in their faith journey, and inviting them to walk with me toward Jesus. I have lots of other ideas on how to do this and am excited to see how the Holy Spirit will use me to love people, share Jesus with them, and expand our church as I get ready to head back to Spain in the next month.
Beautiful Savior has blessed me, and I welcome your personal partnership and prayers. Here are some ways you can support and follow me on my missionary journey.
Partnership opportunities:
subscribe to my newsletter http://eepurl.com/c83PIn
connect with me on social media fb.com/kaylahoemmissionary instagram.com/kaylahoemmissionary
contact me kayla.hoem@lcmsintl.org
Prayer needs:
quick visa processing
productive training in the Dominican Republic
smooth move back to Spain
that the Holy Spirit would bless and guide us in our outreach efforts in Spain